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Green Hotels

Green Hotels Are the New Boutique Hotels

Where: 3600 Broadway (Highway 29) [map], American Canyon, CA, United States, 94503

December 15, 2006 at 3:40 PM | 0 Comments

Another Northern California area has gotten its very own Eco-Hotel. The Gaia Napa Valley Hotel in American Canyon broke ground in 2001, just one block away from Napa, with the developer/owner Wen-I Chang's motto being: "Our mission is to change the world one traveler at a time."

The hotel recently opened to guests and has a plethora of environmentally-friendly products, but the biggest, or the greenest thing about this hotel, is its green construction. Essentially, using more recycled materials and less energy to build the actual structure.

The hotel "fuses natural light and recycled materials into a sustainable and environmentally sound motif" and inside everything is green (not the color) from recycled carpets to low-emissions paints. Even the animals placed in front are good for the environment.

The hotel integrates scrap metal, recycled wood and rainwater runoff to create Swan Lake, home to two "territorial swans" that will run off any other birds looking to nest, said James Soule, general manager.

Of course, just because it's green doesn't mean it's rustic. The hotel has all the amenities you expect in a chic boutique hotel from large TVs to spacious beds and high-speed wireless internet. The hotel also plans to add a restaurant and spa to go with the hotel's meeting and conference facilities by February.

Hotel Mavens, you will be seeing more of these types of hotels in the future. Eco-Hotels, or Green Hotels, are a huge hotel trend and will be popping up all over the place in the coming years . And in 2007, look for many more hotel chains to start adding more environmentally-friendly services to their list and not just the "Please don't wash my towels or linens" type of services.

Related Stories:
· Eco-friendly Hotel Caters to Conscientious Travelers [Contra Costa Times]